Voltage doublers are commonly used in many various circuits to increase voltage levels beyond that available from a supply voltage. However, the many known conventional voltage doubler designs are not efficient in their power usage or power delivery.
One method of voltage doubling which has been used in the past is the cascading of capacitor-diode stages. These designs are not very efficient in that phase shifts arise between the voltages and currents which, in turn, reduce the maximum power that is available. In addition, voltage drops exist across diodes further reducing available power.
Another method of voltage doubling involves the use of field effect transistor switching. These designs, although reducing the phase difference between voltage and current, need additional switching support circuitry to reduce the inefficient current losses during voltage switching of a switching signal. The support circuits draw their own power, thus defeating their purpose of reducing current drain.
The need exists for a high efficiency voltage doubler which can produce a high output current at a maximum output voltage. Additionally, there is a need for a high efficiency voltage doubler that consumes minimal excess current and is realizable with a minimal number of components.
It would be considered an improvement in the art, to minimize the current drain of a voltage doubler by using a complementary switched transistor pair to reduce inefficient current losses and provide increased power transfer efficiency.
It would also be considered an improvement in the art to deliver a high output drive current at a maximum output voltage while reducing circuit current drain, by utilizing a minimal number of components to provide the voltage doubling action.